Thread measurer



Dec. 26, 1922.

- E. E. FOSTER.

THREAD MEASURER.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 'l.

FILED NQV. 22. I918.

Dec. 26, 1922.

-E. E. FOSTER.

THREAD MEASURER.

FILED NOV-22, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 2Q Dec. 26, 1922.

E E FOSTER YHREAD MEASURER. FILED NOV. 22,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.'

nrlllrlllllnllrlilllll11A E IIIIII/II/IIII IIIII/I114 Patented Dec. 26, i922.

hire states smaemes.

"EDWARD E. ros'rnnets BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To 0. e. BLAKE, moon PORA'I'EI), or Bessemer. SSACI-IUSETTS, A conroearion OF new YORK.

THREAD MEAsoRnn Application filed N'ovember 22, 191s'[ seria1' No. 263,767.

To all whom it may comm Be it" known thati. EDWARD E. Fos'rnR,

a citizen, of the Unitedfitates, residing at Beverly in the countyflof Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in a Thread Measurer, of which the following description, connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a spec1- ficatioin. like reference characterson the 10 drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. a v i a This invention relates to sewing machines and is particularly concerned with sewing machines for heavy work such as harness sewing; outsole stitching, and the like. Ma,-

chines of this class usually are equippedwith some form otmechanism for measur ing ofi' ordrawing from the thread supply; the length of threads required ,foreach stitch so as to limitdefinitely the amount ot't'hread subjected to the manipulation of the sewing instrumentalities in. each cycle of operations of the machine and 'thus' enable the machine to 'pullfup the stitches Uniformly. It is obvious that the length'oi'i thread required for each stitch will vary with the thickness of the work and the length of; the stitch. Since the thickness of the work may vary in different parts along whichthe sewingoperation is to'be performed. it obviously is desirable to have the thread measuring mechanismvary the length of thread automatically in re sponse to variations in the thickness of the work. The length of stitch usually does not vary in a given piece of work but the ma chine is adjusted for the desired length of stitch beforet-he sewing operation is started and'nsually this adjustmentismaintained for a given lot of work. It is desirable, however toadjust the length of thread supplied by the thread measuring mechanism to correspond to changesin the length of stitch since ot-herwisethe machine will form looser stitches when set for certain lengths than for certain other lengths; or else the locking or intersection of the threads, if the machine is of the lock stitch type, will come at difierent depths in the work,

lt isthe chief object of the present in mechanism measuring mechanism shownin Fig. l;

vention to devise. a thread measuring mechanlsm for sewing machines. which will satisfy the requirements above outlined,

hi l llChWVlll be accurate and reliable in operation, which will require minimum of attention' on the part'ot the operative orattendant, and which will-require neither skill nor' judgment on the part of the operative in making adjustments for different conditions. Q y 5 To the accomplishment of these and other objects of the invention which will hereinaft-er appear, the invention provides certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts and details of construction, the nature of which will be readily understood from i the following description of one embodiment-of the invention. v v

Referring now to f the accompanying drawings, f 7Q Figurel isa side elevation ofthe more important parts of anputsole stitchinginachine equipped with afl thread measuring embodying the present invent tion; I -Fig. 2 is a rearelevationof certain parts of the machine-shown in Fig; 1;

3 v is a Sideel'evatiOn showing the opposite sides of certain partsof the thread v Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view on r the line4&, Fig.3; i

Fig. 5 isaplan view, partlyfin horizontal cross 'sectionshowing a detail'of the con struction gof the mechanism shown n Fig. 3;

61s, a vertical cross sectional view "The sewing or-stitching machine shown in the drawings forms the subjectinatter of co -pending w application, Serial No. 153,161 '95 filed-March 7, 1917in the name of Charles .C. Blake, referenceto which is-made hypermission. A detailed.description of this machineis unnecessaryjfor the purpose of dis- ,closing the I present!invention. butit may 'strinnentalities act on the work.

facilitate an understanding of the construction shown to state that the sewing instrumentalities include a needle 2, mounted to reciprocate toward and from a work support or throat plate l, an awl 3 and a looper 6 which presents" a loop of needle thread to the needle in position to be caught by the hook of the needle and drawn up through the work. A'loop thrower 7 passes this loopof thread. over a stationary shuttle located above the work and a cam-operated take-up lever 8 their acts on the needle thread to'set the stitch. The work is clamped during the stitclrforming operation by means "of a pressed orwork-clamping position while the stitch is being-made. The position of the presser foot 10 thus is controlled by the thickness of the nork and it is locked in said position. while the stitch-forming in The various'sewing instrumentalities are operated by cams fast on a main cam shaft ll'which is driven by spiral. gears enclosed in the housing 15, one of these gearsbeing fast on the shaft Ti l-and the. otherfast m the vertical driving shaft/l6. v I

The shoe S (Fig. 1) is mounted on a work support, indicated in general by the numeral 18, which operates between successive stitchformingoperations to feed the, shoe step by step past the stitch-f0rn1ing instrumentalities. The work supporting and feeding mechanism shown is of the character dis closed in pending application, Serial No. 113,722, filed August 8, 1 916. in the name of Charles C. Blake But, in the machine shown in the present application the horipontal shaft 19, which operates said machanism, is driven by an adjustable mechanismby means of which the length of each feedlng movement,- and consequently the length of each stitch formed, can be adjusted.

L This driving mechanism is enclosed in houslngs 20 and 21 and is best shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Referring to these figures, it will be seen that the upright shaft 16 has fast thereon .a cam 22 having a cam path formed therein with driving portions and holding portions. A pin wheel 24 mounted fast oil a shaft 25 is provided with a series of radial pins or rolls. which enter successively the path the cam 22, so that the constant rotary motion of the shaft 16 is by this mechanism, transformed into an intermittent r otative ,movement of the shaft 25. This mechanical movement is fullv disclosed inl fatent- No. 1,241,911, granted October 2,

1917. Four pinions indicated respectively at 26, 27,28 and 29 (Fig. 6) are mounted fast on the shaft 25 and run constantly in mesh with. gears indicated respectively at 30, 31, 32 and 33, all loosel mounted on the hollow shaft at. This shaft is connected to the shaft 19;

The respective pairs of pinions and gears are made of different gear ratios and each gear is equippedwith, a clutch so that, while all the gears normally rotate freely on the hollow shaft 3%, any one of the gears may be made effective to drive this shaft. These clutches are all alike and consequently a description of one only is necessary. As best shown in'Fig. 7, each clutch includes a hub member 36 keyed to the shaft 3 1 and mounted within a recess formed in its respective gear. Two friction shoes indicated,

respectively, at 3? and 38 (Fig. 7) are pivotally mounted in the hub 36 close to its periphery and they-are providedwvith hookshaped spring arms which enter slots formed in opposite sides of the shaft and. terminate in small knobs 40 that lie just within the bore of the shaft. By referring to Fig. '7 it will be seen that normally the gear 81 can rotate freely on the clutch hub 36 without effecting a rotative movement of the clutch, butif the ends 40 of the spring arms are forced outwardly they will apply sufficient pressure to the friction shoes 37 and 38 to cause them to grip the peripheral wall of therecess in the gear 31 and. establish a driving engagement between this gear and the clutch hub 36, thus transmitting the rotative movement'of' the gear, to thehollow shaft 34. 1

lzn order torender anyone of the four gears shown effective to drivethe shaft 3 1, a clutch actuator is provided which; consists of a plunger 41 carrying a head 42 which slides in th bore of the shaft 34. ft grooved roll .44 is secured fast {othe outer end of the plunger all and'the groove isengaged by pins mounted inthe upper arm. ofa bell. crank lever l6, F 2 and 6, mounted. fast on a shaft 48 which rocks in bearings formed in a bracket 50. The other arm 51 of saidlever is movable over a segment plate 52 and car ries a spring-pressed pin secured to a knob 54;, thepin'being adapted to enter any one of aseries of holes 55 formed in said plate. These holes are so spaced apart that when the pinfia is in any one of them the head 42 of the] plunger 4L1 will be in engagement with one of the four pairs ofthe members 40; and the arrangement is such that when the lever 16 is in the position in. which it appears in Fig. 1 the pinion 26 and gear 30 (Fig. 6) are effective to drive the shaft 841: andconsequently to operate the work feedmechanism... This. pair 0: cars vi the shoe its vest feed ng movement or. in

other words produces the shortest length of head ,is moved successively into engagement with the diti'erent pairs of members a!) thus increasingthe speed of the feeding movement of the work and thereby increasing the length of the stitches formed.

As above stated, thepositionof the presser foot depends upon thethicknessof the work and the thread measuring mechanism with which the machine is equipped is..s0 connected to the presser foot that a change in the thickness of the work operates auto-v matically through a presser foot to change the length of thread delivered by. the

measuringmechanism t the stitch forming instrumentalities.

i The thread T is led from the wax pot, or other supply, througha thread locking mechanism indicated at56, (Fig."3) over a pin 58 on the endof a thread pulling lever" 60, through another thread lock 62 to a roll 64; Fig. '1, andthence over the roll on the end of the take-up lever 8 to the loopert. The thread locks 56 a-nd62 are alternately actuated so that the thread is 0 always under tlie control of one of these locking devices. The lock '56 comprises a stationary bracket 65 and a mci'nber 66 pivo ally mounted in one arm of a rocker 6? so that it can tip in the same plane in which the rocker tips. This rocker is pinned to' a short shaft 68supported in a stationary bearing and an arm'69 is pinned to the opposite end of this shaft and carries a roll 70, Fig. 8. which runs on the peripheral cam face 72 of the cam 73 n'iounted fast on the shaft 14-. A spring 74: acts on this arm 69 in a direction to hold'the roll in contact with the cam face 72 and'thus tends to hold thethread clamping member 66 against its co-oper i to close the thread clamp 56. i

The other thread clamp 62 comprisesa' thread engaging device 76 constructed and mounted'on the rocker 67 in substantially the same manneras is the member 66. The thread-engaging face of the members 7 6 and 66 are grooved as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. This member? 6 "co-operates with an upper spring pressed thread-engaging member 78,

having a tongued portion to enter the groove the part 76,-21nd having its shank positicned in'a hole 9T9 drilled 'in'the machine frame it coiled spring 80encircles a reduced' part-'ot this shank and tends con-' stantly'to hold the member 78 in engagement with its (to-operating thread clamp ng member 76 The range of movement of the arm 69- and consequently of the rocker 6' 7,

is such that the thread clamp 56 'is open at certaintimes and closed at other timesQbut the threa d lock"62 always remains closed,

the rocking of the'part. 67 merely being sufii cient to increase or decrease the grip of the members 76 and 7 8 on the'threa a (Fi k on t 1e shaft 1-4:; This mechanism thus gives ng member 65. or, in other words this spring? i'ltend m .1 The thread drawing movement of the 60 takes place while the clamp 56 is open. This movement isproduced by cam connections including a link 83 which conliects the rear end of the thread pulling lever '60, with one arm of a bell crank lever 84, 1), the other arm of which carries alroll running in a path 86 of a cam fast he lever 60 a stroke of fixed length. The variation ni=the thread drawing action of thislever required to enable it to pull more or less thread depending upon a change in the'thread requirements due to a, variation in the thickness of the work, is produced by so mounting the "lever 60 with reference to the-thread clamps 56 and 62 that more or less of its stroke maybe made eilectire to draw thread. from the supply. her

t is'purpose-thefulcrum 82 of the thread pulling leverGO is mounted on one arm of a 'bell crank lever 88 which moves on a fixed fulcrum 89 Fig.3, and the other arm of the lever 88 carries the :tulcrunrpin 9 of a floating lever A linkQ, pivoted to the mating nut;

arm; projecting from the stationary bracket 50. Aflink 96 pivoted to; the upper end of the fioatinglever 92 at 9'5, connects this lever with one armot'a bell crank lever. 98, the other'arm otwhich'is pivotallyconnectedto the presser toot plungerl'l.

' It will now be understood that when the thread measuring operation takes place, the

rocker will be tipped about the axis of the shaft 68 in acloc'k-wise direction so as to; open the thread lock 56 and to increase the grip of the thread lock 62 on the thread. The cam connections of the lever 60 then rock this lever about its fulcrum 82in'a clockwise direction (referring to l ig. 3) thus moving the pin 58 upward with reference to the thread locks and causing it to draw thread from the supply through'the opcnthread lock 56. If desired two pins '99 may be positioned on the hub of the rocker 6'?" as shown in'Fi s. 3 and 5 i to 'e'uide the thread it leaves the thread lock and entersthe lock 62. These pins also render, the thread measuring act on more accurate; 'lVhen :the thread drawing stroke of the lever 60' has been completed, the

path 7. 2 permits the spring 'Z i'to move the rhckerfi'? iria' co'unterfclock-wise direc-' tion thus closing the thread lock 56 and redu he;grip of the lock 62 on the thread.

The sewing instriunentalitiesthen draw the loop of thread just measured oil through directly trom'the suggly after the thread measuring operation has been completed, while the thread lock 62 operates during the thread easuring operation to prevent the pin 55- em drawing thread back away from the se'wi g-instrumentalit-ies.

7 It will be evident'trom an iir'oection Fig. 3, that changes in the position t floating lever 92, produced by changesin the thread r quirements, act through the hell crank, lever 88 to raise or lower the fulcrum 82 ot the thread pulling lever 60. Consequently, while the actuating mechanism :ior this lever gives it a stroke oi? fixed length, the part of this stroke that is effective to draw thread from the supply will be determined by the. position of the -fulcrum 82 since, it this ttulcrumpoint is raised or low cred. the limits of the re iprocating movement oil the pin. 58 will be moved up or down longitudinally ot the path of travel oi. the pin. Obviously, if the upper limitof this movement is'raised w reference to the thread-locks. the pin will draw more thread from the supply at each thread measuring operation, and it lowered; it will draw less thread.- Since the adjustment of this fulcrum is controlled. by changes in the adjustment of the nut 95 or in the thickness ot the work the length of thread measured out in each cycle will always vary automatically with changes in the thickness of the work and it can also be adjusted manually.

Assuming, for instance, that the parts are in the relative positions in which they appear in Fig. l and that a thicker part of the work is moved under-the iresser toot 10, the

consequent raising oi the Dl'QSSGl tool; will :wlxthrough the hell crank'lever 98 :mdlink 96 to swing the floating lever 92 about the pivot 93 as a fulcrum and this change in the position of the lever 92 will act through the ipivot 90 and the hell craulclever 88 to raise the fulcrum 82 ot the lever and therefore cause this lever to measure oil a longer length of thread.

1 When a thinner piece of work is moved under the resser foot 10 the connections just described operate to lower the fulcrum 82 and thus cause the lever 60 to measure off a shorter length of thread. -The mechanism is; designed to make the variation in the length of thread proportional to the change in the thickness of the work so that the stitches will be set up with a uniform tension and the lock or intersections of the thread in the work will come at a unitorm distance from one face of the work.

The other. adjustment is provided to enable the operator to adjust the'mechanism so that it will measure off accurately the length of thread required for each stitch when the length of stitch is changed In order to facilitate this operation the thread measuring and stitch len th ad'ustin mechanisms ureterahly are provided with correlated designations for their adjustments so that nothing is left to the judgment or discretion of: the workman. This may conveniently be done bynumbering the adjustments for the stitch len ti settin mechanism. as indicated on the sector 52 in Fig. 1 and then correspondingly numbering the positions to which the nut 95should be turned to edect the required adjustment ofthe thread measuring mechanism .tor the new adjustment oft-he stitch length adjusting mechanism. as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the lever 51. is'setfor the shortestlength ott stitch. ,lIf this lever should now be adjustedto the next hole above, designatedat 2, to cause the machine to make stitches of the next longestlength, then the operator should turn the nut 01' wheel95 until .tl'ie mark opposite the number 2 is brought OPPOSll Q a fixed mark. such that indicated at 100, on a stationary part of the machine. The numbered marks on the wheel 95 are determined by trial or calculation to designate the required adjustments of the thread measuring mechanismtor the respective "changes in length of stitch. It is obvious thatany suitable number of such adjustment-s can be made and that a different set otdesignations could be used, the point being that the adjustments "for length of stitch hear designations corresponding to those required to be made in the thread measuring mechanism.

The thread elivering movement of the lever 60 and pin 58 is so timed with reference to the movements of the take-up mechanism and the stitch forming; instrumentalh ties that a substantially uniform tension is maintained on the thread between the thread measuring mechanism and the stitch forming members while a stitch is being formed.

In other words. the part 58 is moved at such a speed that it delivers thread to the stitch forming instrumentalities atsubstantially the rate which they require it and the presence of slack thread between these instrumentalities and the thread measuring mechanism thus is avoided.

It will now be understood that the thread measuring mechanism provided by this in stitch is exceedingly simple. The mechanism'has proved-exceedlng accurate in practice. I i

- It is obvious that the particular embodiment of the invention may be departed from in many particulars Without departing'from the spirit or scope of the invention. For instance, instead of making the rod 94 of the,

thread measuring mechanism adjustable in the manner above described, this adjustment may be effected by means of a turn-buckle, as indicated at 102, Fig. 1. The illustrated embodiment of the invention is susceptible of substantialvmodification While still retaining the essential characteristics of the invention.

justing the lengthotstitch, said thread measuring and stitch length adjusting, mechanism being correspondingly ad ust able to enable the workman to make the adjustment of one mechanism correspond to that of the other. i

2. In a sewing machine, the combination of stitch forming "instrumentalities, thread measuring mechanism operative to supply a measured length of threadto said instrumentalities in each cycle of operations of the machine, and mechanism for adjusting I the lengthof stitch, said thread measuring and stitch lengthadjusting mechanisms bei .ingindependently adjustable but having correlated designations for their adjust ments'to enable the Workman to make the adjustment of one of said mechanisms cor: respond to that of the other. i I p 3. In a sewing machine, the combination of stitch forminginstrumentalities,a thread; measuring mechanism for supply-mg the stitch forming instrumentalities with the length of thread required for each stitch, and operative to vary the length of thread so supplied automatically in response to changes in the thickness of the Work, means for adjusting the length of stitch, and means for adjusting the thread measuring mechanism to vary the length of thread delivered thereby in each cycle of operations of the machine in accordance with changes in the length of stitch,

4. In a sewing machine, the combination of istitch forming instrumentalities, thread measuring mechanism for supplying, a measured length of thread to said instrumentalities in each cycle of operations of the machine, said mechanism being con structed and arrangedto vary said length ofthread automatically in response to variations in the thickness of the' Work, a

threaded adjustment for varying the length of thread supplied by said mechanism in each cycle of operations of the'machine independently of the thickness of the Work,

and mechanism for adjustingthelength of the stitch made by the machine,

5. In a sewing machine, the combination of stitch forming instrumentalities, thread measuring mechanism for supplying a measured length of thread to said instrumentalities in each cycle of operations of the machine, said mechanism being con.

structed' and arranged to vary saidlength of thread automatically in response to variations in the thickness of the Work, automatic mechanism for feeding and swinging the Workstep by step past said instrumentalities, mechanism for adjusting the lengths ofsaid steps to adjust the length of stitch, and a manual adjustment for said thread measuring mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EDWARD FOSTER. 

